And he was just getting started. In July 2016, Jeff’s $66 billion net worth topped Warren Buffet’s $65 billion. And with that, Jeff became the third richest person in the world for the first time. The only two people ahead of Jeff were Zara founder Amancio Ortega ($70 billion) and Bill Gates ($78 billion). Fast forward to April 2017. On April 1st, Jeff’s $77 billion net worth topped Amancio Ortega’s $76 billion. And with that Jeff became the secondrichest person in the world for the first time. The only person ahead of Jeff was Gates with $90 billion. Meanwhile, Bill Gates’ net worth has declined slightly in recent weeks. It had been a steady $90 billion for a while, but today Gates is worth $87 billion. That puts Bezos within $7 billion of the #1 spot, his closest chance yet. Amancio is within $6 billion of the crown, but it’s a crown he has actually held a few times before. Now obviously it’s always possible (likely) that Bill’s net worth increases or decreases over time. But you might be surprised to learn that the stock price of Microsoft actually has very little to do with Bill’s net worth. As of this writing, Bill only owns 2.26% of Microsoft, equaling $11.46 billion…or 12.7% of his net worth. So there you have it! Do you think Jeff will steal Bill’s crown?
